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Regulator pledges a louder voice for people who use health and social care services

Care home residents, hospital patients and people who receive care at home will have more say in improving the quality of care services than ever before, the Care Quality Commission has pledged.

The Commission yesterday published Voices into Action, a charter for involving people in its work as the regulatory body for health and adult social care in England.

It also intends to make sure that the providers and commissioners of health and adult social care services ask for people's views and that they respond to what they say.

Cynthia Bower, Chief Executive of the Care Quality Commission (CQC), said: "We believe that giving people a voice about the services they or their relatives receive is a vital part of getting things right and improving services for everyone.

"As the regulator, we put people who use services at the centre of everything we do, and we are passionate about involving them, their carers and their families in our work. We also expect providers of services, such as hospitals, health trusts, care homes and home-care agencies, to demonstrate that they actively seek people's views and respond to what they say.

"Both providers and service users have told us that this leads to better services and has benefits not only for the service users but also for the staff. Being effectively involved increases people's understanding and their confidence in the service, and leads to improvements in their health and well-being."

Dame Joan Bakewell, who was appointed the Voice of Older People by the Government last November, will be the guest speaker at an event on 24 June to launch Voices into Action.

Dame Joan said: "It is an important principle that people who need to use health and social care services should be given the means to make their views known and to influence the way these vital services are delivered. This is particularly important for older people, and those who are disadvantaged for other reasons, who often go unheard in our society. That's why I'm giving my full support to Voices into Action."

The charter states that the Care Quality Commission will:

• conduct regular studies to find out people's experiences of health and social care services;
• involve people who have experience of using services in its inspection work;
• set up special panels of people, such as one to represent the views of currently or recently detained mental health patients;
• consult widely on CQC policies and other topics, making a particular effort to reach people who are often missed out because of their disabilities or other circumstances;
• work with Local Involvement Networks (LINks) and seek ways of actively involving voluntary groups in the Commission's functions;
• develop ways of assessing how well service providers and commissioners are involving people.

Voices into Action has been developed after wide consultation with individuals and groups across the country.

CQC next plans to consult on the measures it will use to assess how well providers of services are involving people. It will report yearly on how people have been involved and the difference it has made.

Download our Voices into action statement in different accessible formats

Notes to editor

The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (which created the Care Quality Commission) sets out some requirements on involvement which say that the Commission must:

• focus on the needs and experiences of people who use health and adult social care services;
• have regard to the views and experience of people who use services (and their families and friends);
• have regard to the views and opinions of LINks;
• protect and promote the rights of people who use services; and
• publish a statement on how CQC will engage with people.

LINks (Local Involvement Networks) are being set up across the country to help people influence how health and social care services are run. LINks are independent and are made up of individuals and community groups whose job is to find out what the public think about local services and to make recommendations to those who run them.

Find out more on the Directgov website (opens in new window)

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) is the (new) independent regulator of all health and adult social care in England. We inspect all health and adult social care services in England, whether they are provided by the NHS, local authorities, private companies or voluntary organisations. We also protect the interests of people detained under the Mental Health Act. We make sure that essential common standards of quality are met everywhere care is provided, from hospitals to private care homes, and we work towards their improvement. We promote the rights and interests of people who use services and we have a wide range of enforcement powers to take action on their behalf if services are unacceptably poor.

Our work brings together (for the first time) independent regulation of health, mental health and adult social care. Before 1 April 2009, this work was carried out by the Healthcare Commission, the Mental Health Act Commission and the Commission for Social Care Inspection.